Storm names raise eyebrows

Plenty, it seems, when it comes to The Weather Channel giving noteworthy winter storms cute little monikers that are more likely to bring to mind beloved cartoon characters than a blizzard.

Case in point: Nemo, the name The Weather Channel has given to the nor'easter ravaging the region.

“Naming winter storms will raise awareness, which will lead to more proactive efforts to plan ahead, resulting in less impact on the public overall,” said Tom Niziol, the “winter weather expert” from The Weather Channel.

In addition to raising awareness, naming the snowstorm “Nemo” (which is a Greek boy's name meaning “from the valley” and means “nobody” in Latin) is causing some unintentional giggles, with most people instantly thinking of the fish in the 2003 computer-animated film “Finding Nemo.”

“The first thing that actually came to mind when I heard it was they were naming it after a cartoon fish,” said Tina Pignataro of Worcester while sitting in the atrium at St. Vincent Hospital.

“Nemo? It doesn't really inspire fear,” said Meagan Gauthier of Millbury, who was with Ms. Pignataro.

Instead of an adorable orange fish, Nemo might bring to mind — to literature lovers — Capt. Nemo, the imperialism-hating antihero (and captain of the submarine Nautilus) in Jules Verne's “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” and “The Mysterious Island.” He was played by James Mason in the 1954 Disney movie of “Twenty Thousand Leagues.”

To date, there have been no official reports of the storm taking offense to imperialism or resembling James Mason.

This winter, The Weather Channel took it upon itself to start naming noteworthy winter storms. The names are assigned in alphabetical order. And, no, Snowstorm Obama is not next on the list.

The National Weather Service doesn't name snowstorms and blizzards, and has no intention to start. However, hurricanes and tropical storms have been given names since the 1940s.

“We have a general policy that we do not name storms,” meteorologist Lance Frank at the National Weather Service said. “Outside the naming of hurricanes, we don't name winter storms.”

Mr. Frank said hurricanes are named from a list that rotates every six years, and, if it turns out to be a high-magnitude storm such as Irene and, most likely, Sandy, the name is retired.

Ms. Gauthier and Ms. Pignataro agree with the National Weather Service's longstanding practice.

“That's what we always did, the Blizzard of '78, the April Fools Blizzard, the Presidents Day Blizzard,” Ms. Gauthier said. “That works for me.”

Bryan Norcross, senior executive director of weather content and presentation and senior hurricane specialist at The Weather Channel, said, “A storm with a name is easier to follow, which will mean fewer surprises and more preparation.”

Whether intentionally or not, the biggest surprise of The Weather Channel's winter storm name list for 2012-13 is how many built-in pop culture references there are.

“There's a Harry Potter reference, Draco,” Ms. Pignataro said. “There's a 'Lord of the Rings' reference, Gandolf,” which is actually a name from William Morris' “The Well at the World's End” and not Gandalf from J.R.R. Tolkien's “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

“Draco is a little more scary than Nemo,” Ms. Gauthier interjected. “We've gone all these years. We're New Englanders. This is nothing new for us. And now, they're naming snowstorms?”

In addition, pop-culture purists can find in The Weather Channel's winter storms list a few combination classical and Shakespearean references (Brutus and Caesar), straight-out-of-Shakespeare references (Iago, the antagonist from “Othello”), a Sly Stallone reference (Rocky), a Hanna Barbara character (Yogi, as in Yogi Bear) — or is it a baseball reference (Yogi, as in Yogi Berra, of “It ain't over till it's over” fame) — and not one but two “Star Trek” references (the omniscient misanthrope “Q,” although that could also refer to the man who supplies James Bond with all those awesome gadgets. Then there's the genetically engineered Khan, the role created by Ricardo Montalban — “Khaaaaaaaaaan!”

Actually, The Weather Channel gives alternate explanations for some of those names.

Michael LeBlanc of Sutton said winter storms have special meaning for him, and attaching a lame name to them cheapens the experience.

Mr. LeBlanc remembers the Blizzard of '78 as “high school kids roaming the neighborhood streets, helping people free their snowbound cars,” he said.

“Another one was billed as 'The Storm of the Century.' It was a massive snowstorm in 1993 that at one point spanned the entire East Coast. Unfortunately, it struck on the day of my grandmother's funeral. It was a tough time for the whole family, but what made it special was that we were all trapped at my dad's place for the night at a time when we all needed each other the most,” he said.

Plain and simple, Mr. Leblanc said, sometimes storms are just storms, and they don't need names.

“I can't picture 'Nemo' evoking any more memories in the future other than catching up with emails, taking the occasional soak in the hot tub with a Twisted Tea, and waiting for the inevitable phone call from Dad down in St. Petersburg asking, 'How's the weather up there?' ” Mr. LeBlanc said.

As far as names go, Mr. LeBlanc said if The Weather Channel is going to name winter storms, it should at least use names that evoke a winter tone, such as those of Scandinavian origin.

“Thor. Loki. Or, maybe Beyoncé. Celebrities or even businesses could sponsor storms, with the proceeds going to charity,” Mr. LeBlanc said. “But, personally, I would prefer more creative names. Last year, they were calling a tropical storm the Frankenstorm; that's something that people talk about. So how about Stormageddon? Or, even better, Stormapalooza!”

After Ms. Gauthier and Ms. Pignataro argued over whether Athena (one of the snowstorm names) is the Greek goddess of war or of love, the two women rattled off all the Greek and planet names on The Weather Channel's winter storm list, including Euclid, Helen, Plato, Saturn and Zeus.